Let's give something back to the noobwinders.

[Ralph Vargr]

I progressed Sidewinder>Adder>Cobra>Asp from December 2014, for about a year, on cheap missions, and the pitiful payouts offered for exploration at the time.

It was the best time in Elite, for me.

Then, the burnout/grindwall hit. The lure of a Python was too great, and the grind for credits ate my life.

Then, came Horizons, and the engineers. Burnout.

Now, players are looking for methods to minimize grind. This is a screaming warning to Frontier, to improve gameplay.

 

[Hellakitty]

Now, players are looking for methods to minimize grind. This is a screaming warning to Frontier, to improve gameplay.

Yep. 100%

Ditch the broken RNG.

Give the pace of progression a kick up the backside.

For the grind that remains, give meaningful, rewarding and fun mechanics with which to complete it.

 

[lenna]

Personally, I find there is no real grind in ED. I mix up my activities and do what in-game activities I enjoy.

Sure there are some things that can feel repetitive if you do concentrate on them to the exclusion of all else for too long but that is true of ALL Open World games to a large extent - there is no escaping that particular issue. Personally, I do not consider it an issue at all.

Given the talk of "grind" in ED, I am beginning to think that there has been an explosion in instant-gratification focused individuals.

 

[bitstorm]

Yep. 100%

Ditch the broken RNG.

Give the pace of progression a kick up the backside.

For the grind that remains, give meaningful, rewarding and fun mechanics with which to complete it.

I think there is progression in places, not necessarily on the later ship path though.

For example here's how the last week or so has played out for me....

I wanted to do the latest Guardians log missions, I'm halfway between not wanting spoilers but wanting some spoilers. =p


- So I already have a Thargoid sensor, link, probe etc tucked away. My Explonda has 2 x 2t corrosion resist racks so it's all good, I head out.
- On arrival I find parking is difficult. You can get close-ish with a big ship but it's not ideal, hey I'll build up a small explorer ship!

Now I love this, I love having goals in the game, I understand some might not and see this as an aside to what they want to do.

- I'm gonna build an explorer Dolphin, have most of the materials so a short time later have 45LY jump range, all ready to go
- I spot someone mention on the forum there are now 16T corrosion resist racks available!! I can free up a slot on my Dolphin.

So now I have another goal, I understand that some might just want to go do Guardian stuff, and I suppose they can, but I'm just enjoying the journey here. I'll get to the Guardian stuff soon enough, it's just a 16T rack would really help.

- Gathering the required, trading at the material broker and so on, I sort a 16T CRCR
- I take my Dolphin out there, I can land literally right next to the ruins now
- Gathering up a bunch of Guardian artefacts for the unlocks, I can figure out a few of the lexigrams, but sod it I'll cheat and look up a key on the forums
- But after a bit of research about the log missions, it looks like I'm gonna need Thargoid samples, not sure why at this point but I've seen them mentioned.

So I'm now on a new mission, I need a Cyclops, a Medusa and a Basilisk sample!

This is not something I'd normally do, I don't shoot at Thargoids, seems there is a silent running method. I will do that.

- Cut a long story short I manage a Medusa and a Cyclops sample, but am killed, it looks like the Basilisk is accompanied by Scouts and you have to take hits there


So this was my excuse to build up a Chieftan, to be honest it almost seems this it what the ship was intended for. But I don't, instead I've shipped my Corvette out, fitted with massive shields, banks and the rest nearly 100% hull reinforcement packages.

Now sure at this point well there seems like a grind wall because Corvette, but I suspect it is possible to get a Basilisk sample in a small manoeuvrable ship with a mix of silent running and not staying still. Alternatively bring some friends.


Anyway upshot is there is actually a whole trail of progression, goals, stuff to do there, right through what on the face of it is a simple Guardian scan the obelisks mission.

And to be honest, although I don't know, it wouldn't surprise me if it's been designed that way.

Ultimately I think this is what I want, stuff to do in game, and so far 3.0 is delivering that.

After the Guardian stuff I'm going to have a look at the Eagle Eye stuff in the recent Galnet.

 

[Dharrch Streynjer]

You can only share one wing mission at a time.
The best missions to share are "Industry needs" AKA Source and supply missions because they return the highest rewards per commander. If you wing with three noobs and make all the purchases yourself your losses will be minimal and thier gains will be phenomenal. Up to 20mil per. This may mean lots of journeys since the noobs won't actually do any flying except to the mission giving station.

o7

 

[RymdLazer]

Quite scummy to start arguing the benefits of being nice. No matter how things go for the beginner in the future having had the experience of a friendly vet taking one under their wing will definetly be a happy experience and help them be enthralled by Elite.
I used to love boosting new players in wow. It is being a ambassador for the game and having that fluffy warm feeling of having made someones day.
Nothing to grump about.